


Dance To This

by kugure



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 04:35:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15722091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kugure/pseuds/kugure
Summary: Stiles had been wanting to dance a couple routine with Derek Hale since the first time he saw his performance. And when he finally managed to join The Pack—a famous dance crew led by Laura Hale—Stiles thought that his time had came.“I said no.”Stiles exaggerated a shock expression. “You don’t even know what I’m going to ask you.”“I only dance alone, Stiles.”





	Dance To This

**Author's Note:**

> Another self-indulgent fic after I watched too many videos of Dyl-O and Tyler dancing. And then I'm also addicted to Troye and Ariana's Dance To This, so... why not. 
> 
> Unbetaed. 
> 
> WARNING: There's a mention of suicide in this story.

Stiles had been a dancer since as long as he could remember. His father even said that he started dancing at the same time he could talk and the only time Stiles was silent, was when he was dancing. So probably that was why his parents encouraged him to keep dancing to occupy his mind, and since Stiles loved it, he didn’t mind. Though, after his mother’s death, dance had became his escape, his way to cope, and it made him feel like that his mother wasn’t really left.

Stiles only started to upload his dancing video on YouTube when he was in 9th grade though, four years after his mother’s death. He created his own choreography, performed it solo, recorded everything and uploaded it online just because he could. He didn’t think someone would watch it. He didn’t feel like he was good enough anyway.

But people thought otherwise. The video got over than a hundred hits and people started to subscribe his channel, left encouraging comments and even asked for more.

So, Stiles started doing it regularly.

Sometimes, he roped Scott to dance with him. They made a good duo, but when Stiles tried to dance with him as a partner instead of dancing the same movements together but separately, he and Scott couldn’t really get into it—they couldn’t stop laughing and being silly, and where they supposed to dance romantically and erotically against each other, the laughter became too much they had to stop. They still uploaded the result anyway, people still enjoyed it and thought they were hilarious, but the chemistry between them was too _brotherly_ to become a couple so they stuck to do the duo routine.

It was just Stiles, and sometimes Scott in Stiles’ channel, until one day, Laura Hale approached him.

Laura Hale was the leader of this famous dance crew called The Pack. Stiles had been subscribing them for years already. They were based in New York and had their own studio building. They also opened classes for beginner, for people who wanted to learn how to dance or just for people who wanted to have fun. Sometimes, when there were some students good enough to their standard, they let them joined in their videos.

Currently the main crew of The Pack consisted of thirteen people, but Stiles only had his eyes on Derek Hale.

Most of The Pack videos was about group dance or couple dance. But Derek Hale, he was always doing solo. His movement was always powerful yet there was some gentleness in it. Stiles couldn’t really describe it. Stiles was kind of obsessed with him, and had been dreaming of having a couple dance with Derek. Stiles thought their dance style would compliment each other. So since the first time he laid his eyes on Derek’s dance video, Stiles always made his couple choreography with Derek in mind.

When Laura recruited him on his freshman year of college, there was no way Stiles would say no. Laura was kind enough to let Scott tagged along with him—he later joined Allison’s class, Scott had a crush on her and Stiles would say that he was pathetic but since he also kind of obsessed over Derek, he couldn’t say anything.

The first thing Stiles said after he met Derek in person in The Pack studio was, “Hey. I’m Stiles. The new guy. Do you wanna do couple dance with me?”

After he proposed, the whole crew looked at him like he was sprouting another head. Laura and Cora—Derek’s younger sister—looked at him amusedly though. Derek glared at him, like he was a gum that stuck on the base of his shoes, and answered, “No,” firmly.

Stiles knew that he should be terrified, since Derek’s glare was pretty scary. Or at least he should back off. But Stiles was nothing but persistent.

Derek was truly an anomaly in The Pack. Unlike everyone else, he didn’t have any classes. Even Stiles had managed to have his own small class with seven students that he was quite proud of since it only had been a month since he joined. Derek refused to teach, Derek refused to dance with someone else, but didn’t mind when people were watching. Stiles always attended his session though.

Seeing Derek danced in person, it was another experience compared to seeing him via YouTube. He looked fiercer in reality. His eyes would have such a focus and intense gaze that sent shiver up Stiles’ spine every time. And that made Stiles wondered how did it feel to be the focus of that gaze. He could feel that _when_ Derek agreed to be partnered with him.

“That was amazing, Derek,” Stiles praised, approached Derek after one of his session one day. Erica, Isaac and Kira tried to warn him to get away from Derek, but Stiles ignored them. Derek looked up from his water bottle and there, the glare again.

“I said no.”

Stiles exaggerated a shock expression. “You don’t even know what I’m going to ask you.”

“I only dance alone, Stiles.”

Wow. Derek remembered his name. Alright. That wasn’t the point now. “Can you at least try?” he asked, tried to copy Scott’s puppy expression. He hoped it worked. “I know I’m not as good as you or even your sisters, but can we at least try? One dance? If you don’t like my choreo, we can use yours. I don’t care. Pretty please with cherry on top?”

“No,” Derek said again as he walked away, and probably it was just Stiles’ wistful thinking, but Derek sounded less angry but more amused?? Stiles could dream.

“I will change your mind!” Stiles said to Derek’s back. Stiles definitely would.

Though after six months into The Pack, Stiles couldn’t change Derek’s mind at all. He tried so many ways.

Bribing him with food and matcha latte (Stiles found it out by accident one time. He tried coffee first because a guy like Derek usually liked his coffee black—just like his soul—but Derek refused to accept it, so Stiles tried another drink. And one day, he was desperate enough to try something ridiculous, so if Derek didn’t want it he could drink it himself, but unexpectedly, Derek _received_ it and Stiles always bought him matcha latte and cupcakes since), Stiles also made him come to every of his session, in case after seeing him dance, Derek wanted to try, but no. Derek still didn’t budge. He glared less towards Stiles though and even voiced out some advices whenever Stiles practiced, so Stiles thought maybe he just needed to be patient.

“Give the man some space, Stilinski,” Jackson warned him one day after Stiles delivered the cupcakes and matcha latte to Derek, asking for the millionth times over the past seven months, and Derek just shook his head and walked away to his studio.

“Nah,” Cora said before Stiles could respond, slung her arm around Stiles’ shoulder and grinned at him. Stiles liked Cora. And Laura too, but after Derek, Cora was his favorite. He did couple dance with her few times, and their chemistry was pretty good Laura wanted them to make more. “I say Stiles should just keep trying. Besides,” she added, “If Derek really want Stiles to back off, he would let Stiles know. So for now,” she turned to Stiles, grinned wider. “Don’t give up. Laura and I got your back.”

Got the permission from the sisters wasn’t supposed to make Stiles so happy, but he was. And Stiles wouldn’t give up so easily anyway.

But maybe, he should changed his approach a little bit. Maybe giving Derek some space for now wouldn’t be bad.

So, Stiles focused more on his own choreo and classes—he also got his education to think of because there was no way he would lose his scholarship because he was too focused on Derek. So, for the next days, he only managed to drop the cupcakes and latte on Derek’s studio before he ran off to meet Malia, to work on their couple project.

Stiles didn’t even ask Derek anymore whether he wanted to do couple routine with him because he thought the cupcakes and latte represented him enough.

A week after Stiles decided to give Derek some space while he thought for another plan to get Derek to agree to dance with him, Laura invited everyone on The Pack nights out. Stiles loved it. Because Peter Hale, the uncle, owned this amazing club and every member of The Pack didn’t have to pay anything at all. And the best thing was, he could take Scott with him since he was the honorary member of The Pack anyway. Laura already said that after Scott finished his lesson, he could join The Pack and Scott was never happier.

“I heard you’re doing a project with Malia,” Peter started the conversation as Stiles approached the bar while the other crew scattered on the dance floor, though probably Scott and Allison were making out somewhere—they finally got together last month. Peter was always bartending when The Pack was there and Stiles grinning at him, nodded.

“Yup. Using that DNCE song I love so much,” Stiles elaborated. Peter already handed him his usual jake and coke without Stiles needed to ask for it. Peter always made the perfect drink even though it was just jake and coke. “I recorded our practice. Look,” he said, pulled his phone out to show Peter the video. Peter indulged him, leaned closer to Stiles to see the video from his phone.

Though mid video, someone sat down next to Stiles and distracted him from explaining to Peter the step Malia and he were using because the one sitting next to him was Derek.

“So, no longer harassing me for the past few days because you got Malia already?” he asked.

Stiles quickly recovered from his gapping because Peter snickered as he moved away and Stiles gave Derek his best flirty grin—which he was sure Derek was immune to it. “Are you saying you are jealous?”

Derek raised an eyebrow at him. He wasn’t glaring at Stiles though, so Stiles knew he wasn’t out of line.

“If you’re jealous much, you should agree to dance with me, then. One dance, Derek. And if you don’t like dancing with me that much, I will totally back off.”

Derek didn’t say anything, and Stiles didn’t pursue further, focusing on his drink again. The past months knowing Derek, when he was silent like this, it meant he was still trying to find words to talk what he had in his mind. So Stiles waited.

“I did couple dance before,” Derek said.

Stiles almost fell from his tool. He didn’t expect Derek to open up to him like that. He leaned a bit closer to Derek and asked, “What happened?”

“It didn’t end well,” he answered, and Derek was silent again as Stiles waited for him to elaborate. In the end, he just shook his head. “See you tomorrow, Stiles,” he said, and left.

* * *

There was no way Derek could drop that line to Stiles and it didn’t make Stiles curious. Once he got home, he was in research spree. He was using his Google-Fu, tried to find when and where Derek had a couple dance, and _with who_.

Alas, he couldn’t find anything.

He was about to give up when finally, at the bottom of this forgotten dance forum, Stiles found a bunch of videos. It was all without title. Stiles fistbumped himself mentally, grinning widely as he clicked the videos, started from the very bottom.

Stiles blinked in awe when he realized that the backdrop showed the logo of Juilliard. So Derek went there? He never knew?

Stiles forced his mind to focus back in the present instead of dwelling to the fact that Derek attended one of the best school of art in the States but no one ever talked about it. The video showed Derek, younger than his current self with less stubble (Stiles couldn’t decide whether he liked the current Derek with more stubble or back then), and he smiled widely. That surprised Stiles. He never saw Derek smiled that wide. He never saw Derek smiled, period.

Derek was standing in the middle of the studio, and when a girl appeared in the camera as the music started, Derek’s smile grew even wider. Stiles didn’t think that it was possible.

They were dancing slow at first, but when the music started to pace up, their movements started to be faster and even more powerful. The girl had small figure, with brunette hair and very pretty face. The kind of girl Stiles thought would never be able to move as powerful as that to keep up with Derek. But she could. Their dancing was amazing.

Before Stiles knew, he already watched seven videos of them dancing—he finally found out that her name was Paige, looked like she was in the same year as Derek in Juilliard, probably her girlfriend because Derek called her name in one of the videos and then kissed her afterwards right before the video turned dark. And then Stiles found one short video. Less than a minute.

It was weird, since Derek and Paige’s performance usually took more than three minutes. So probably it was just video of them practicing a move, and Stiles clicked it.

The video started just like the others. Derek alone, smiling off camera—now Stiles knew that he was smiling at Paige—then Paige appeared. She leapt towards Derek and Derek caught her easily—a practiced movement—and then they picked up to the fast tempo of the song and started to move acrobatically—Stiles didn’t even know those movements were possible. Derek manhandled Paige with such a firm confidence.

And then it all happened very suddenly. Paige leapt again, and Stiles knew Derek was supposed to catch her. But Derek slipped. Paige landed on the hard floor with a loud sound that Stiles kind of notice as the sound of bone cracking. Derek froze, and so was Stiles. He gasped as his eyes widened at the view before him.

The last thing Stiles saw before the screen went dark was Derek, hurriedly moved towards Paige and yelled her name.

_It didn’t end well_ , Derek had said last night.

* * *

Stiles couldn’t get it out of his mind. Obviously. Now he knew why Derek didn’t dance in couple. He still had his trauma. And now Stiles really wanted to find Paige, hoping that talking to Paige would change Derek’s mind, made him less afraid to dance with someone again.

But, he didn’t know Paige’s last name. He could search it, especially since she went to Juilliard so Stiles could always check the students entry, but he didn’t know in what year Paige was in. He could always ask Laura, Cora or Peter about Derek’s history in Juilliard and also with Paige, but he didn’t want to do that.

No one ever spoke about Derek’s time in Juilliard, or even Paige. Clearly it was a taboo topic.

So. His only option was to ask Derek directly, since it was his past and his secret to tell. _But_ … Stiles wasn’t sure if it was okay? Derek didn’t say anything the other night at the club. He just said that it didn’t end well. If he wanted to tell Stiles, he would have elaborated. But he didn’t, and it was Stiles who decided to look it up himself.

Still trying to decide on how he would find Paige and whether he should tell Derek that he knew about that accident, Stiles was a bit distracted in his practice with Malia that day.

He was very aware of the frown Malia gave him as he made the wrong move for the umpteenth time, and Stiles gave him an apologetic look. Malia just sighed, and said, “Let’s do it—”

Though she didn’t get to finish talking because Derek cut her off with a very pissed off, “Stop,” and glared at Stiles. “You two are so done for the day. Go the fuck home.” It appeared Derek had turned the music off as well.

Malia raised an eyebrow at Derek, and Stiles felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice on him. _Of course Derek was pissed._ Stiles was distracted and he was making mistakes while handling Malia and… Stiles knew where Derek’s mind went.

“But we—”

“It’s okay, Malia,” Stiles said, made everyone in the studio surprised as well. Stiles didn’t usually agree with Derek on anything. “I’m too distracted to continue anyway. Let’s do this tomorrow, yeah?”

Malia squinted her eyes at Stiles, but then sighed. “Fine. Good thing we’re almost done. I’m gonna hit the shower then. See you tomorrow, Stiles,” and she left, with Danny and Kira with her. Derek stayed behind though, and now that everyone left, it was only the two of them inside the room.

Derek was still glaring at him. Kind of reminded him of the glares Stiles received in his early weeks as The Pack’s member. He swallowed nervously as he grabbed his towel to wipe his sweat off of his face, and just to do something to avoid looking at an angry Derek.

“I’m sorry,” Stiles said after the silent already stretched too far and he couldn’t handle it anymore.

“You’re supposed to say that to Malia,” Derek responded harshly. “She could get hurt. _You could get hurt._ ” The last sentence was said with such ferocity that made Stiles flinched. He still hadn’t looked at Derek directly though, focused on his shoes. He heard Derek sighed, and then spoke again, this time less angry. “What made you so distracted anyway? You’re not usually like this.”

Stiles didn’t answer, but he braced himself to look up at Derek. When their eyes met, Derek’s expression changed. His eyes widened as he paled. Probably it was something in Stiles’ expression, but Stiles was aware that Derek knew exactly what had distracted Stiles.

“You found out,” Derek said. It wasn’t a question, but Stiles nodded.

Stiles averted his gaze again.

“How?” Now Derek was asking.

“The other night,” Stiles answered, decided to just be honest since the cat had out of the bag now. “You mentioned that you used to dance couple. I got curious and I looked it up when I got home… I know I didn’t suppose to do that. I won’t tell anyone, Derek,” he quickly added. “It’s your secret. And I won’t force you to dance with me if you’re still not comfortable with it. But you should know, that I know you’ve been careful since. I trust you that it won’t happen if you ever tried to dance couple again. Maybe not with me, but you can dance with anyone, you know.”

Something shifted in Derek’s expression, but Stiles couldn’t really tell what. He just hoped that he didn’t make everything worse by saying those things. But Derek probably thought that Stiles was too nosy. Right. There was no more hope for Stiles.

“Come see me when you finish your project with Malia,” Derek said instead, made Stiles looked at him with dumbfounded expression.

“Wha—”

But Derek didn’t say anything else. He just turned around, and left Stiles alone in the studio, wondering what was Derek meant by that.

* * *

Derek didn’t talk to Stiles anymore after that day. He still received the cupcakes and the latte, and still watched Stiles’ progress with Malia, but he never lingered like usual. He just watched—and Stiles made sure he wasn’t distracted again—and then left. Everyone else didn’t call them out on it though, so Stiles assumed Derek wasn’t really angry with him?

Or maybe he was too angry and he was plotting to kill Stiles later, and everyone else didn’t want to be involved.

He was done his recording with Malia by the end of that week, just two days after he admitted to Derek that he knew about his past. The result was so good even Stiles was satisfied and Laura couldn’t stop praising him. Derek slipped out after the recording session was over though, and Stiles quickly detached himself from everyone, let them ooh-ing and ahh-ing over his video with Malia as he followed Derek outside.

He thought he would need to search for Derek, but unexpectedly he already waited for Stiles right outside the studio.

“Pick the song,” he said after Stiles stopped in front of him.

“Huh?” Stiles blinked.

“Pick the song, Stiles,” Derek repeated, and the corner of his mouth quirked upward slightly in amusement. Just slightly though, so Stiles probably just imagining it. “For our dance. We can start next week once you have the song.”

Stiles blinked again. “What?” he asked instead, because he wasn’t sure that he heard it right. “You want me to pick a song for… our dance…?” then he gasped. “Oh my God. You’re agreeing to dance with me!”

Now, there was no way Stiles imagined Derek rolling his eyes at him because it was so clear.

“Yes, Stiles,” he said, half amused, half resigned. “Think about it. Send over the song to me and we can work on the choreo together next week. Okay?”

“Okay,” Stiles answered automatically, still too dumbfounded to talk more.

Derek nodded and patted Stiles’ shoulder. “See you, then.”

Stiles waited until Derek disappeared in the corner before he did his victory dance.

* * *

Stiles found the perfect song. It was a new song that had just been released last month, Dance To This by Troye Sivan featuring Ariana Grande, and Stiles had fell in love with the song since the first time he heard it. He could already imagine he danced with Derek over that song, and now, he would for real.

He sent the song to Derek that night, kind of afraid that Derek would refuse to use it—he didn’t really know Derek’s preference over songs. From his dance, it felt like Derek used songs from almost every genres, while in video with Paige, Derek used softer songs. But after fifteen minutes staring at his phone, anxious, Derek finally replied with, “Ok,” and Stiles fistpumped the air.

Monday afternoon when he dropped by The Pack studio, Stiles was so excited. Usually, he would tell everyone that he finally got Derek to agree to dance with him. But in this case, Stiles somehow managed to keep his mouth shut. He didn’t even tell Scott. He didn’t know why. But he kind of wanted to keep this between him and Derek? And he also afraid that Derek wasn’t ready to be seen doing couple dance with anyone else. Unless Derek was telling people, Stiles would stay silent.

He didn’t have any lesson that day, so he greeted everyone in the locker room, and then headed towards Derek’s studio—only Derek and Laura had their own studio while the rest of the crew had to share of the remaining three. Because Laura had the most class it was impossible to make her took turn with everyone else, and for Derek… well, he was always a lone wolf who required a lot of privacy.

Derek was already there when Stiles entered, sitting in front of the mirror. He looked up at Stiles and gestured him to come closer. Stiles dropped his bag as he sat next to Derek.

“Her name was Paige Krasikeva,” Derek opened up as Stiles settled and it made Stiles freeze. He stayed still and listened though. But then he noticed the past tense on that sentence and realization dawned on him. _It can’t be…_

Though from the way Derek swallowed hardly, Stiles knew that he probably got it right.

“You saw the video so you know what happened,” Derek continued. Stiles was torn between wanting him to continue or to stop. He could see the agony in Derek’s expression and it made his own heart clenched painfully. “I made a mistake. She broke her ankle and it was so, so bad. And the surgery—it failed somehow. She couldn’t even walk anymore, let alone dance.” Derek’s voice started to waver and Stiles automatically reached out to hold Derek’s hand. He didn’t even realize that he was doing that until his hand closed around Derek’s and kind of expected Derek to shrug it off, but no. Derek held on to Stiles so he tightened his grip. “We—I tried our best to amend that, but nothing worked. She was depressed and one day… she got enough and slit her wrists. I couldn’t rescue her. It’s all my fault.”

Stiles really didn’t know what to say. Derek probably had heard enough consolation in his whole life. Every variation of, “No, it’s not your fault. She forgave you already.” So Stiles just stayed silent, but he leaned closer to Derek, pressed their shoulders together.

It took a while for Derek to regain his composure, and when Derek looked calmer, Stiles nudged him. “Let’s do this?”

Derek took a deep breath and turned his head towards Stiles, and he nodded.

* * *

Stiles got it right. Working with Derek wasn’t like working with anyone else. He already got some choreo for the song but he wasn’t sure Derek would accept it, but when he mentioned it, Derek just said simply, “Show me.”

He tried not to feel over-conscious over how Derek scrutinized his every movements, and he explained what he wanted from his partner in the choreo while he danced. He didn’t expect Derek to memorize everything though, they could always change it later anyway.

“That’s all I got for now,” Stiles said, stopped moving and turned the song off. He only got the choreo until mid song for now. Quite a lot, as since the first time he heard this song, he already wanted to dance to it with Derek so he kind of got it planned inside his head for a while.

Derek looked at him, and Stiles avoided his gaze, afraid that he would turn to stone if he stared too long.

“From the top,” Derek said, surprised Stiles a little bit he only managed to say, “Huh?” before Derek walked towards the music player and turned it on, and then approached Stiles.

Stiles felt like a prey.

The music started again and that was what forced Stiles back into reality. He quickly caught up to the tempo and started moving, and _didn’t expect Derek to join him_.

Stiles’ breath hitched when Derek’s body made contact with him. It wasn’t actually in the choreo he explained to Derek earlier, but somehow, it felt _right._ Felt even better than what he had in mind before. Derek did follow some of his ideas though, and Stiles was… mesmerized.

It was just practice, but dancing with Derek didn’t feel like dancing with anyone else. The way he was strong in his manhandling and left Stiles breathless, but at some parts he was soft and gentle and it all made Stiles felt like he was drunk.

If Derek made his dance partner felt like this all the time, he wondered why nobody wanted to try harder to coax him to dance with them.

It felt like ecstasy.

Stiles was completely lost in their movement, enjoying the way Derek’s focus was solely on him. Very aware of every inch of their skin that was in contact. Every breath Derek took as he moved around Stiles.

Stiles didn’t want it to stop.

But then Derek stopped moving, and Stiles’ sense was back to reality. “Why—” Stiles wanted to ask why they were stopping, but then he recognized the music in the background. Right. They hadn’t gotten the choreo for this part. “Oh.”

Derek didn’t move away from him though, and Stiles felt like he should move away before Derek noticed his heartbeat that was beating too fast and the blush on his face and neck. He could always use the dancing as an excuse, but somehow being too close with Derek’s piercing gaze, he didn’t think that Derek would buy that lie.

He just wanted to dance with Derek. Sure, he was crushing on him pretty hard, but _look at Derek_ . _Look at him_ . Derek was _so out of his league_.

“Um,” Stiles tried to break the silence and slightly pushed Derek away. Gladly, Derek seemed like he took the cue and moved away from Stiles.

“I like it,” Derek said. “Let’s think about the next moves then.”

And with that, Stiles forced himself back to focus.

* * *

Stiles worked together with Derek almost everyday in Derek’s studio. They stayed late when Stiles had class and only took a break when Stiles’ college assignment was nearing deadline or that he would have quiz in the morning so he needed to study. Other than that, they worked together to complete the choreo.

Well, Stiles called it _work together_ , but actually it wasn’t that simple. They argued a lot about which part was good to be used, especially when Stiles suggested something a bit challenging. Derek would be too afraid and tried to change it into something boring instead, and most of the times, Stiles would be too frustrated to continue so he stomped his way from the center of the studio and went to sit down in the corner, while Derek would take the opposite corner and brood. They let the music kept playing though, and when Stiles finally calmed down, he got back to the center, dancing with the music, and Derek would always follow him seconds later, ready to be part of it, and they forgot their argument.

The thing was, dancing with Derek was addictive. And by now, Stiles’ crush had turn into something more serious, and he knew he should’ve stopped, but his heart wasn’t that easy to control.

Because sometimes, it was too easy to believe  that Derek felt the same towards him everytime he lifted him up easily with such a care.

That was the thing. Stiles never trusted someone as much as he trusted Derek. He knew that Derek would never let him fall. Would always be there to catch him. If only Derek could see himself from Stiles’ point of view, probably Derek wouldn’t be so scared anymore. But of course Derek couldn’t, so Stiles would do anything, _anything_ to bring his confidence back.

And to do that, Stiles had to keep his feelings in check, didn’t want to put Derek off by it. He tried his best.

_Tried_ was the keyword.

Anyway, people must had crush on Derek all the time. It wasn’t a big deal. It would pass.

Famous last words.

* * *

It had been three weeks since Stiles started his project with Derek and so far, nobody knew. Laura and Cora, and even sometimes Lydia gave him _a look_ , but they never asked so Stiles ignored them. Eventually, they would know anyway.

“We’re done,” Stiles breathed out that evening, sprawled on the floor of Derek’s studio with his eyes closed. He was so damn tired. “We finish it, Derek. We perfected it.”

Stiles didn’t hear Derek’s response, but a moment later he felt a cold water bottle being pressed to his cheek, made Stiles groaned and opened his eyes as he grabbed for the bottle. Derek was looming over him, with his signature grin—Stiles saw it a lot in the past few weeks in their alone time. It was nowhere near Derek’s smile towards Paige, but it was better. At least Derek was no longer scowling all the time—and Stiles stuck his tongue at him because Derek only looked slightly out of breath. Stiles cursed mentally at that. Because how come they practiced together at the same time, and Derek even did more of the heavy lifting than Stiles, but he still looked okay? _Damn him and his stamina. If he was as good at it in bed_ —

Alright. He better not going there.

Stiles forced himself to sit down, and his heart fluttered a bit when Derek dropped next to him, their knees touched. Stiles didn’t know Derek was actually pretty touchy feely before his dance session with him to be honest. Derek had no idea of personal space all the time, not only when they danced. Always sitting close, looming and hovering over Stiles, and even he often hooked his chin on Stiles’ shoulder to look at reference videos Stiles showed him. Stiles was _dying_. Though he loved it so he didn’t say anything.

“So,” Stiles spoke again, tried to get rid of his random thoughts of his unrequited feelings towards Derek. “When can we record this?” he asked, and then paused. “Wait, do you even wanna record this and upload it?” Because Derek still hadn’t told people about their project together. The realization made Stiles’ stomach sunk. What if Derek didn’t want to? Well, Stiles would be disappointed, because everyone should see Derek dancing. But he would respect his decision if Derek wasn’t ready yet.

“Of course I want to,” Derek’s answer pulled Stiles out of his thoughts. “I’m just…” Derek trailed, and then sighed. “I’m just nervous. We did well in practice, but what if I fucked up again?”

“You won’t,” Stiles reassured him, but Derek still looked skeptical. Stiles put his hand on Derek’s thigh. “I’m not gonna say something corny like, 'Believe in yourself’, but,” he paused until Derek looked at him, “I will ask to you don’t believe in yourself.”

Derek blinked. And then raised an eyebrow at him.

“Don’t believe in yourself, Derek,” Stiles said again, “But believe in me, who believes in you. And we’ll be fine.”

Derek still frowning, but then he chuckled. “That’s stupid,” he commented. “Where did you steal that line? That’s the worst pep talk ever.”

Stiles ignored the skip of his heartbeat when Derek chuckled and exaggerated a painful expression. “Ouch, Derek. You hurt my feelings. After I gave you such a wonderful peptalk!”

“No. That’s the worst. Where did you get it?” Derek asked again, still chuckling.

Stiles was laughing too now. Because there was no way he could stay stoic with Derek smiling like that. “Alright. Yeah. That’s bad. I stole it from this anime called Gurren Lagann—”

“Nerd.”

“Shut up! But anyway, you got the point, right? And I will agree to record it and tell people only if you’re ready to do it too. Got it?”

Derek didn’t give Stiles and immediate answer. He looked at Stiles with his ridiculous eyes instead—Stiles never figured out the color—and Stiles couldn’t look away somehow. In the end, Derek smiled at him—similar to the smile he saw in those old videos—and ruffled Stiles’ damp hair. “Let’s record it tomorrow. I’m gonna tell the others to prepare. Let’s wrap up for today.”

And Stiles found himself grinning like an idiot all the way home.

* * *

When Stiles got to the studio at the afternoon on the next day and slipped to Derek’s studio, everyone was there. Even Scott.

Everyone but Derek. Because Stiles was fifteen minutes early, thinking that he would get some warm up done before Derek got here. But he regretted that decision.

Because everyone was staring at him.

“Um, hi?” he said, forced out and apologetic grin. His gaze met with Laura’s and he saw a smirk started to form on her beautiful face.

“Derek told me last night,” she said. “And he wants everyone here to watch and help record.” She gestured towards Danny who waved at Stiles—he was the only who didn’t look at him with judgey face—as he attending the camera, got it ready on one side of the studio.

“Oh, right,” he said. He was the one who told Derek to do this anyway. “Sorry for not telling you guys anything earlier?” he offered.

Laura approached him and ruffled his head. “We’re not mad you’re keeping this a secret, Stiles,” she said. “I know why anyway,” she added, in a soft voice that Stiles was sure only meant for him. “But still,” she continued, in her normal voice, “we’re gonna stay here and watch what kind of project you and Derek had been working on for weeks because we’ve been dying to know.”

“I can’t even sleep after Laura told me last night,” Cora commented, smiling widely at Stiles.

“I’m just wondering what kind of hex you put on Derek to make him agree to dance with you,” Jackson said.

Stiles knew he was joking, but Stiles really needed to respond to that. However, he was stopped by the sound of door’s studio opening. Stiles turned and his gaze met Derek’s, who gave him a soft, private smile. Jackson was completely erased from Stiles’ mind.

“Alright! Now that Derek’s here as well, you two go warm up while Danny finishes the camera setting,” Laura suggested, pushed Stiles towards Derek.

Stiles followed Derek to the other corner of the studio, away from everyone who already took a seat and be comfortable while Danny and Boyd set up the camera. He dropped his bag on the floor next to Derek and took off his red hoodie. When he managed to get all of his limbs out of it, he felt Derek’s gaze on him and he turned at him. “What?”

“Nothing,” Derek answered, already looked cozy in his usual henley. “Come on, I’ll warm you up.”

Stiles’ mind jumped directly into the gutter at those words, but he still managed to school his expression as he came over towards Derek. It was their regular thing anyway.

“You are too nervous,” Stiles said after it was his turn to help Derek with his warm up—his mind was totally still in the gutter, and he quickly kicked himself mentally over it—because he could feel Derek’s tense muscles beneath his palms.

Derek sighed. “I am,” he admitted. “But I’ll be fine when we start. I believe in you who believes in me, remember?”

Stiles pressed Derek’s back harder than he should just because he could and Derek groaned between his chuckles. “Fuck off. That line supposed to be cool.”

“We’re ready!” Laura announced, took Stiles and Derek’s attention. “Now, whenever you’re ready, boys.”

Stiles finished the last part of Derek’s warm up and walked towards Erica who sat near the music player. He opened his playlist and handed his phone to her. “On Derek’s cue,” he said before walked back to the center of studio where Derek had been waiting.

Stiles stood in front of him, just right on the edge of Derek’s personal space, but Derek pulled his hand and made them standing chest to chest. That definitely knocked the breath out of Stiles’ chest. He thought Derek would be more… distant with other people around, but he clearly didn’t care.

Stiles swallowed. He didn’t ask whether Derek was ready or not because they were here already. And Derek said he was sure yesterday when he asked. Derek wouldn’t be sure if he wasn’t ready.

“On your cue, Derek,” Stiles said, barely a whisper because they were so close already so Derek would be able to hear him just fine. Derek nodded, and turned towards Erica for a moment, before focusing back on Stiles.

The music started.

Stiles knew everyone was watching them as they started to move, and usually he would be a bit nervous about that, but somehow, he couldn’t care this time. Derek needed his sole focus on him, so Stiles gave him that. As Derek gave him his.

It was just like when they were practicing. But much, much better. They moved around each other, flowing, and everything felt so damn perfect.

Stiles ran, Derek tugged. He leapt, Derek caught him. He pressed, and Derek would embrace him even tighter.

Midsong, Stiles realized Derek was smiling at him. And Stiles couldn’t help but reciprocate.

Their movements weren’t exactly the same as what they practiced for the past few weeks. But whenever one of them improvised, the other would be able to follow easily. Stiles had been dancing with Derek for three weeks, to the same song even, but somehow, it always felt like something new. Refreshing. Stiles was sure he would never feel this with anyone else.

When the music stopped, both Stiles and Derek were panting. And they were standing even closer than they usually ended in practice. But Stiles couldn’t bring himself to back off this time. His eyes glanced down at Derek’s lips and he found that Derek was still smiling.

“That was perfect,” he said softly. And Stiles could only nodded.

“Oh my God,” Laura’s voice broke Stiles out of his trance. Right. They weren’t alone in the room. He quickly backed off from Derek, but he _couldn’t_. Because Derek’s arms were still around him, preventing him from moving away.

“Oh my God,” Laura said again, and Stiles turned his head towards her. She was blushing. Hard.

And she wasn’t the only one who blushed. When Stiles looked at everyone else, they were pretty much at the similar state as Laura. Even Boyd was blushing too. Scott was gapping and blushing at the same time.

Stiles blinked. _Huh?_

“That dance…,” Laura said, “That looks like the most beautiful mating dance I’ve ever seen.”

“It does feel like they are fucking with music, with all of their clothes still on,” Lydia commented.

_Wait._

“It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. It beats any porns,” Erica chimed in.

“Derek! You didn’t tell us you are dating Stiles!” Cora protested.

_What?_

There was a big misunderstanding here and Stiles could feel his face started to heat up. But then he heard Derek laughed out loud, and buried his face on the crook of Stiles’ neck to control himself. Stiles was so confused.

“We’re not dating,” Derek said after he regained himself and moved away from Stiles a little bit, gave him some breathing space. However, that clarification made Stiles’ stomach sunk.

“Yet,” Derek added, and Stiles froze.

He looked back at Derek again, found that Derek already looking at him.

“Will you go out with me, Stiles?” he asked. Stiles almost choked on his own saliva, but gladly he didn’t.

“I thought you never asked.”

Derek’s big grin was the last thing Stiles saw before Derek kissed him.

* * *

When the video being uploaded, it became the biggest hit of The Pack’s work. It hit thousands count in less than twenty minutes and Laura was so happy.

“They want more,” she said, smirking at both Stiles and Derek.

“I don’t mind,” Derek said. “As long as I only be partnered up with Stiles.”

Laura clasped her hands, looked satisfied. “Oh, don’t worry about that. You two are gonna work together from now on. So, now, get going and give your fans more dances.”

The next choreo involved a pole, with Troye Sivan’s Animal, and it even became the bigger hit than the previous video.

  


**Author's Note:**

> I was actually in dilemma, to make Derek's past about Kate Argent or Paige Krasikeva, but in the end I decided to use Paige instead. Thinking about Kate still making me so angry. 
> 
> And I can't believe I finally finished this fic! Had been writing this for a week, had to rewrite this in the middle too because I sucked, but then I finished it :) Supposed to be my 5 months mark of my involvement with Sterek fandom. I've been watching Teen Wolf since 2011, and I was aware of Sterek, and I didn't know why, but it took me 7 years to dig their fanworks. And I regretted that. I missed a lot of stuff! Like Neckz 'n Throats for example orz. But better late than never, right? ;) 
> 
> Anyway, here's my [tumblr](http://grettalks.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/search?q=grettalks) in case you need someone to talk about Sterek ;)


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